HealthDay News — For adults with diabetes, calcium channel blocker (CCB) use is associated with lower fasting serum glucose levels, according to a study published online January 15 in Diabetes Research and Clinical Practice.

Yulia Khodneva, MD, PhD, from the University of Alabama School of Medicine at Birmingham, and colleagues used data from Reasons for Geographic and Racial Differences in Stroke (REGARDS) study participants enrolled between 2003 and 2007 to examine the correlations of CCB and verapamil use with fasting serum glucose. After adjustment for covariates, the correlations were examined for 4,978 adults with diabetes.

The researchers found that 29.6% of participants were CCB users, of whom 3.4% were verapamil users. Compared with CCB non-users, CCB users had 5 mg/dL lower serum glucose in fully adjusted generalized linear models. Compared to CCB non-users, verapamil users had on average 10 mg/dL lower serum glucose, with considerably greater differences seen among insulin users: 24 and 37 mg/dL lower serum glucose among users of insulin and oral agents and users of insulin alone, respectively.

"CCB and in particular verapamil use was associated with lower fasting blood glucose levels among REGARDS participants with diabetes," the authors write.